In 1963, a group of top advertising agencies formed an independent company to consolidate their monitoring and reporting services. This new company, Advertising Information Services (AIS), provided vital intelligence such as competitive expenditures, while amortizing the costs among all the agency owners. This model proved successful in reducing costs and improving the method and quality of necessary information gathering. Over the years, AIS expanded its range of services and, in 1974, began pre-screening broadcast programming for advertisers. In 2004, AIS was rebranded as MIS, Media Information Services.

For over 55 years, MIS has been an integral part of the advertising industry. As the only television content screening service, MIS works with broadcast and cable networks, representing advertisers and their media buyers. We view each episode prior to airing and create detailed reports of the show’s content, highlighting areas of concern. These reports are used by media buyers to ensure that the episode is an appropriate outlet for their advertiser’s commercial message. MIS also reviews network commercial schedules and reports any errors or conflicts to traffic agency representatives so issues can be resolved prior to airing.

MIS' headquarters are located in New York City. Content screening is done in New York and Los Angeles. The company is still owned by many of its founding agencies.